The present invention relates to testing systems used during assembly of an article of manufacture, such as a vehicle engine, and more particularly to an apparatus and method for automatically verifying that a plurality of components are properly connected to a wiring harness during assembly of the article of manufacture.
The present invention will be described for determining whether each of a plurality of engine components are properly connected to a wiring harness during manufacture of a vehicle engine. However, the present invention may be used for determining whether a plurality of components are properly connected to a wiring harness during manufacture of any type of article of manufacture, as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art from the description herein.
Referring to FIG. 1, a wiring harness 12 includes a plurality of electrically conductive nodes (each electrically conductive node is represented as a black dot in FIG. 1). During manufacture of a vehicle engine, each electrically conductive node of the wiring harness 12 is coupled to an ECU (engine control unit) for coupling a plurality of engine components of the vehicle engine to the ECU (engine control unit), as known to one of ordinary skill in the art of automotive technology. The ECU (engine control unit) is a data processing device that controls the operation of the plurality of engine components for proper operation of the vehicle engine, as known to one of ordinary skill in the art of automotive technology.
Referring to FIG. 1, example engine components coupled to the wiring harness 12 are an ignition coil 14, a knock-sensor 16, and a linear solenoid 18. (A wiring harness typically has more numerous electrically conductive nodes than illustrated in FIG. 1, but fewer conductive nodes are illustrated in FIG. 1 for clarity of illustration and description. In addition, more numerous engine components are coupled to the wiring harness within a vehicle engine, but three example components 14, 16, and 18 are shown in FIG. 1 for clarity of illustration and description.)
Referring to FIG. 1, each of the plurality of components 14, 16, and 18 has two component nodes that are coupled to the wiring harness 12 with each component node being coupled to a respective node of the wiring harness 12. A first component node 24 of the ignition coil 14 is coupled to a respective first harness node 26 of the wiring harness 12 via a ground node 28. The ground node 28 within a vehicle is typically the chassis of the vehicle, as known to one of ordinary skill in the art of automotive technology. The first component node 24 of the ignition coil 14 is coupled to the ground node 28 which is in turn coupled to the respective first harness node 26 of the wiring harness 12. The ignition coil 14 has a second component node 20 that is coupled to a respective second harness node 22 of the wiring harness 12.
Similarly, a first component node 34 of the knock-sensor 16 is coupled to the respective first harness node 26 of the wiring harness 12 via the ground node 28. The first component node 34 of the knock-sensor 16 is coupled to the ground node 28 which is coupled to the respective first harness node 26 of the wiring harness 12. The knock-sensor 16 has a second component node 30 that is coupled to a respective second harness node 32 of the wiring harness 12.
Further referring to FIG. 1, the linear solenoid 18 has a first component node 36 that is coupled to a respective first harness node 38 of the wiring harness 12. A second component node 40 of the linear solenoid 18 is coupled to a respective second harness node 42 of the wiring harness 12.
During manufacture of the vehicle engine, an operator couples each of the components 14, 16, and 18 to the wiring harness 12. For coupling a component to the wiring harness 12, each of the first component node and the second component node of the component is connected to a respective node of the wiring harness 12 via a plug coupler, as known to one of ordinary skill in the art of automotive technology. For example, referring to FIG. 2, the first component node 36 of the linear solenoid 18 is connected to the respective first harness node 38 of the wiring harness 12 via a first plug coupler 44 (shown within dashed lines in FIG. 2), and the second component node 40 of the linear solenoid 18 is connected to the respective second harness node 42 of the wiring harness 12 via a second plug coupler 46 (shown within dashed lines in FIG. 2).
Referring to FIG. 2, for the first plug coupler 44, the first component node 36 of the linear solenoid 18 is connected to a male-half 48 of the first plug coupler 44, and the respective first harness node 38 of the wiring harness 12 is connected to a female-half 50 of the first plug coupler 44. Similarly, for the second plug coupler 46, the second component node 40 of the linear solenoid 18 is connected to a male-half 52 of the second plug coupler 46, and the respective second harness node 42 of the wiring harness 12 is connected to a female-half 54 of the second plug coupler 46.
The male-half 48 fits into the female-half 50 within the first plug coupler 44, and the male-half 52 fits into the female-half 54 within the second plug coupler 46. The vendor manufacturer of the linear solenoid 18 provides the linear solenoid component 18 with the male half 48 of the first plug coupler 44 connected to the first component node 36 of the linear solenoid 18 and with the male-half 52 of the second plug coupler 46 connected to the second component node 40 of the linear solenoid 18. In addition, the vendor manufacturer of the wiring harness 12 provides the wiring harness 12 with a respective female-half of a plug coupler connected to each of the nodes of the wiring harness.
During assembly of the vehicle engine, an operator manually fits each of the male-half of a plug coupler that is attached to a node of an engine component into a female-half of the plug coupler of a respective node of the wiring harness 12 to connect that node of the engine component to the respective node of the wiring harness 12. For example, referring to FIG. 2, the operator manually fits the male-half 48 into the female-half 50 within the first plug coupler 44 to connect the first component node 36 of the linear solenoid 18 to the respective first harness node 38 of the wiring harness 12. In addition, the operator manually fits the male-half 52 into the female-half 54 within the second plug coupler 46 to connect the second component node 40 of the linear solenoid 18 to the respective second harness node 42 of the wiring harness 12.
Referring to FIG. 3, during assembly of the vehicle engine, the operator fits together each of the respective male-half of a plug coupler connected to a node of each of the plurality of engine components to the respective female-half of the plug coupler connected to a corresponding node of the wiring harness 12. After such assembly of the plurality of engine components 60 to the wiring harness 12, the nodes of the wiring harness 12 are plugged into a wiring harness connector 62 of the ECU (engine control unit) 64 to provide connectivity of the ECU (engine control unit) 64 to the plurality of engine components via the nodes of the wiring harness 12.
The ECU (engine control unit) 64 is a data processing device that controls and monitors the operation of the plurality of engine components 60 for proper operation of the vehicle engine, as known to one of ordinary skill in the art of automotive technology. For example, for the ignition coil 14, the ECU (engine control unit) 64 causes an application of an ignition voltage pulse across the first component node 24 and the second component node 20 for ignition of spark plugs during operation of the vehicle engine, as known to one of ordinary skill in the art of automotive technology.
For the linear solenoid 18, the ECU (engine control unit) 64 adjusts the voltage level across the first component node 36 and the second component node 40 for shifting between various gears in an automatic vehicle transmission system during operation of the vehicle engine, as known to one of ordinary skill in the art of automotive technology. For the knock-sensor 16, the ECU (engine control unit) 64 monitors for a voltage at the second component node 30 to detect the occurrence of a spark-knock during operation of the vehicle engine, as known to one of ordinary skill in the art of automotive technology.
Engine components, such as the examples of the ignition coil 14, the knock-sensor 16, and the linear solenoid 18, that are coupled to the ECU (engine control unit) 64 are known to one of ordinary skill in the art of automotive technology. In addition, technology for the wiring harness 12 and the wiring harness connector 62 for providing connectivity of the ECU (engine control unit) 64 to the plurality of engine components 60 via nodes of the wiring harness 12 is known to one of ordinary skill in the art of automotive technology. In addition, technology for plug couplers, such as the example plug couplers 44 and 46, for providing connectivity of engine components to the wiring harness 12 is known to one of ordinary skill in the art of automotive technology.
During assembly of the vehicle engine, an assembly line operator by human error may not properly connect each of the engine components to the wiring harness 12. For example, the operator may by human error fit the male-half of a plug coupler only part-way into the female-half of the plug coupler such that the male-half of the plug coupler does not make electrical connection with the female-half of the plug coupler. Alternatively, the operator may by human error fit the male-half of a plug coupler into a female-half of a plug coupler for a wrong node of the wiring harness. Such human error by the operator results in improper connectivity of an engine component to the ECU (engine control unit) 64 such that the ECU (engine control unit) 64 cannot properly control such an engine component during operation of the vehicle engine.
Typically, during assembly of the vehicle engine, the engine is not run until a relatively long time after the engine components are assembled to the wiring harness 12 since many other components are also assembled into the vehicle engine before the engine may be run. Thus, improper connectivity of an engine component to the wiring harness 12 within the vehicle engine may not be noticed at or near the location for connecting the engine components to the wiring harness 12 when the engine is run. In addition, because the engine components are located in various parts of the vehicle engine, proper connectivity of the engine components to the wiring harness 12 cannot be visually inspected in an easy manner.
Thus, a mechanism is desired for automatically verifying proper connectivity of each of a plurality of engine components to the wiring harness 12 before the vehicle engine is completely assembled such that improper connectivity of any engine component to the wiring harness 12 is determined without the engine being run. In addition, a mechanism is desired for electrically verifying proper connectivity of each of a plurality of engine components to the wiring harness 12 such that visual inspection of the connections of the plurality of components to the wiring harness 12 is not necessary.
Accordingly, the present invention is an assembly line testing apparatus and method for automatically verifying proper connectivity of a plurality of components to a wiring harness within an article of manufacture, such as a vehicle engine, by electrically determining whether a closed circuit loop is formed with each component through two respective nodes of the wiring harness.
Each of the plurality of components has a respective first component node that is to be coupled to a respective first harness node of the wiring harness via a first respective plug coupler and has a respective second component node that is to be coupled to a respective second harness node of the wiring harness via a second respective plug coupler. In a general aspect of the present, a micro-controller controls application from a test voltage signal generator of a test voltage signal to the respective first harness node of the wiring harness. The micro-controller detects and inputs a resulting voltage signal at the respective second harness node of the wiring harness after application of the test voltage signal at the respective first harness node.
The resulting voltage signal is at a first voltage level if the respective first component node is properly connected to the respective first harness node of the wiring harness via the first respective plug coupler and if the respective second component node is properly connected to the respective second harness node of the wiring harness via the second respective plug coupler. On the other hand, the resulting voltage signal is at a second voltage level if the respective first component node is not properly connected to the respective first harness node of the wiring harness via the first respective plug coupler or if the respective second component node is not properly connected to the respective second harness node of the wiring harness via the second respective plug coupler.
The micro-controller determines that a component is properly connected to the wiring harness if the resulting voltage signal is at the first voltage level, and determines that the component is not properly connected to the wiring harness if the resulting voltage signal is at the second voltage level. The micro-controller determines whether a component is properly connected to the wiring harness in this manner for each of the plurality of components.
In another aspect of the present invention, a warning signal is provided if any of the components is not properly connected to the wiring harness, and an approval signal is provided if all of the components are properly connected to the wiring harness. In addition, the micro-controller determines an identification of any of the plurality of components that is not properly connected to the wiring harness as indicated by which harness node of the wiring harness has the second voltage level as the resulting voltage level. The identification of any of the plurality of components that is not properly connected to the wiring harness is displayed.
The present invention may be used to particular advantage for verifying proper connectivity of a plurality of engine components to the wiring harness within a vehicle engine during assembly of the vehicle engine.
In this manner, the assembly line testing apparatus and method of the present invention verifies proper connectivity of a plurality of components to a wiring harness, apart from operation of the article of manufacture being tested. Thus, proper connectivity of the components to the wiring harness may be determined during assembly of the article of manufacture before the article of manufacture is completely assembled. In addition, the assembly line testing apparatus and method of the present invention determines proper connectivity of the plurality of components to the wiring harness electrically such that visual inspection of the connection of each of the plurality of components is not necessary.
These and other features and advantages of the present invention will be better understood by considering the following detailed description of the invention which is presented with the attached drawings.